Bow International is the world's only specialist target archery print magazine, and within each issue you'll find news and reviews, new gear, technique, advice and tips; plus exclusive interviews from the world's greatest archers.
Well, the nights are drawing in and the time for archery is getting shorter, although the field season, taking up a lot of your weekends out there, is just getting started. In this month’s Bow, our cover star is Johanna Klinger of Germany (thanks to Malcolm Rees for the picture). It was part of a well-attended and beautifully organised European Youth Championships at Lilleshall, the home of British archery. Bow managed to pop along to catch the team finals, which turned out to be a special day for GBR on the field. Great thanks to Jon Nott and his team. Elsewhere in the magazine, we’ve got two barebow features for you, a classic on clicker work and another brilliant analysis from Dr James Park on real skill levels. We take…
CHANG HYEJIN RETIRES Twice an Olympic gold medallist, the Rio 2016 Olympic individual and team champion Chang Hyejin has decided to retire from competitive archery. The 35-year-old Chang has multiple world and Asian Games medals to go with her two Olympic golds. She will also be remembered for destroying received wisdom – not least among the Korean archery establishment – about required height and strength for archery athletes; just over 5ft tall, she became Olympic champion using a recurve bow that weighed just 39lb on the fingers. Chang’s decision to step away from the sport follows recent retirements from Lisa Unruh of Germany, Linda Ochoa-Anderson of the USA and Mexico, and three-time Olympian Juan-Carlos Stevens of Cuba. “Retirement is now real. I learned the joys and challenges of archery, and…
The USA’s Archery Trade Association (ATA) joined Department of Conservation staff, local archers and others on 8 August at the Archery Hall of Fame and Museum in Springfield, Missouri, to recognise archery as the official state sport of Missouri. “Archery has a long, rich history,” said Dan Forster, ATA’s vice-president. “Missouri’s recognition of archery as the state’s official sport pays appropriate tribute to all those before us and to the hundreds of thousands of active bowhunters and target archers in the ‘Show-Me’ state who participate in and advance this timeless and shared passion.” Missouri, in the mid-western USA, has a long history with the sport. Missouri native Holless Wilbur Allen Jr is credited with inventing the compound bow, and the Hoyt Archery Company was also started in St Louis in…
Great Britain’s Ella Gibson shot 1,417 out of a possible 1,440 points to beat Toja Ellison’s double-50 world record by two. Gibson shot 72-arrow qualifying rounds of 707 and 710 points at Cleadon Archers on 30 August. “It’s a different mindset, working through 144 arrows to break a record, as you need to pace yourself and your concentration,” said the 22-year-old compounder. “You can’t give it your all from the get-go or you just won’t have enough mental energy left by the end.” Gibson, who has won every major event she has entered in 2022, previously broke the European record for the 72-arrow qualifying round at the third stage of this year’s Hyundai Archery World Cup, with 712 out of 720 points.…
Great Britain’s Bryony Pitman and Ella Gibson will both be attending the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Tlaxcala, Mexico, on 15-16 October. Pitman won her spot after taking individual gold at the first stage in Antalya, while Gibson secured hers by winning an unprecedented three stages of the competition – the first archer to do so since 2016. Gibson also goes in as the number one seed. The final, which focuses on the individual competition rather than teams, features the reigning circuit champions in compound, Sara Lopez and Mike Schloesser; two of the reigning world champions in Lopez and Korea’s Kim Woojin; as well as the reigning Olympic champions, Mete Gazoz and An San. The 2022 event marks An San’s first appearance at the final, having turned down an…
Archery GB and Redhill Archers have teamed up to hold an individual sprint competition in run archery, with the long-term aim of widening participation in archery and bring new people into the sport. Earlier this year, Archery GB organised a pilot event in Newark, bringing together a small group of archers to try run archery [see Bows passim]. Run archery is a mixed sport similar to biathlon and combines archery with running. It provides an alternative archery discipline that may help the sport with the retention and recruitment of archers and runners. Following the success of this event, another opportunity is being arranged on 11 September in Birmingham. Members of Archery GB are being invited to attend the event at Redhill Archers’ base and have a go at this unique…
